


forest for the trees

by Sorbus



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Character Study, Friendship, Gen, Melancholy, Travel, Worldbuilding, that feeling of being small and awe when you look at the stars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28406256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorbus/pseuds/Sorbus
Summary: A series of drabbles following Link as he explores the wild and wide lands of Hyrule. Even among the ruins, weeds, and burnt out husks of guardians, there are friendships to be found.
Relationships: Link & NPCs, Link & his Horse
Comments: 20
Kudos: 29





	1. wake up

Link awakens to a voice. He can hear it without ears, hear it as clearly as a spring pond, as easy as the the wind rises. When he walks out of the chamber of his resurrection, he thinks perhaps it is the only voice in the world. 

The old man soon changes that, but not by much. The wide expanse of the great plateau makes up the entirety of Link's world upon waking. In that whole world there is only one other person: the old man. 

Except the old man is the King and the King is dead, and Link is back to thinking not only is there only him and the voice, but perhaps the voice itself is just a ghost as well. 

He flies off the steep cliffs of his first home and straight into the path of a disgruntled moblin. There is no thinking, or voices, after that, just the battle.

It's between the region of days to weeks before Link sees other people. His slate may have been marked with his intended destination, but the majority of it is black and directionless. A glowing spot in the darkness does him no good.

Which leads to what he first set out to do; find all the towers and activate them. Even in the wild landscape of rolling hills, endless plains, and heavenly mountains, the Sheikah towers stand out like a sore thumb. It is not difficult in the slightest to spy their location and mark it as his intended destination.

It was rough going: Link still has bruising from the tower just south of the mysterious woods covered in fog. For some reason or another that area had been crawling with more monsters than he had ever taken on before, and Link found himself trying his darned best to sneak his way past. 

For the most part he had made it, but closer to the tower he had focused so strongly on a moblin in his path thst he missed a bokoblin on a higher platform with a large barrel ready to be thrown into unsuspecting young heroes. Not one of his finer moments. 

Just as he was limping southward from this tower, following the path for what might be the first time in his memory, he stumbled upon a building.

Well 'building' was probably a generous word for what essentially was a large, circular hut. The area surrounding the hut was filled with scattered signs of living: stables with horses, a chicken pen, logs of chopped trees, a cooking pot and- 

people.

For the first time since awakening, Link had encountered new people. 


	2. friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link meets a new friend.

How is it that he had spent hours - days upon days - trekking through the wide expanse of the world and he had missed every opportunity to see a horse? It had been the stable master himself who told Link he could register a horse, and even how to catch one.

Lo and behold, beyond the gentle crest of the slopes surrounding the stable, a small herd of wild horses lay, grazing. They seemed ever alert: the flapping of a heron's wing enough to startle them into a short trot. Yet in the end they seemed content to graze at their leisure: no worries beyond the possibility some uppity outsider disturbing their gentle peace. 

Link almost felt bad for intending to catch one. Almost. 

He crouched low, instinctively shifting the soles of his feet to best bear the weight of his body and make as little noise as possible while doing so. He had no memory of learning how to crouch in this manner, but it felt as if it was almost there: like a word just on the tip of your tongue, a smell half-remebered. It guided his movements easily as he crept forward, avoiding divots in the earth or twigs across his path. 

Early on he had set his sights on one of them: a middling-sized horse of deep chestnut brown, with a flowing black mane. It's ears flicked as it ate, its tail swishing leisurely. 

Link wanted it. 

He crept forwards, hyperfocused on keeping his steps quiet. Perhaps if he was not so focused on his intended horse, he would have noticed that another of the herd shifting around. It caught sight of him, and startled, neighing loudly and causing the horses to scatter. They galloped for a few paces before settling down, ears twitching in irritation. Link slapped a hand to his forehead and dragged it downwards in exhasperation. He'd been so close!

Five, ten minutes later, they had settled again, grazing contentedly, and Link was determined to try again. He would get that horse, by Hylia, he _would_. 

All in all it took four tries, but finally Link had snuck close enough that he could grab it before it could run away. He took a deep breath, feeling the steady pounding on his heart, loud under the influence of adrenaline in his veins. One, two-

He lept.

The horse startled badly, braying loudly while Link settled onto its back, holding onto it's mane for his dear life. Almost immediately he set to soothing the poor beast: a steady murmur of low, unintelligible words in it's ears, a firm and steady hand stroking along its side. It took skill to stay calm enough to sooth them both while the horse was still trying to buck him off, and Link could feel his energy waning. 

Just before it appeared that he would lose his grip and go flying, the horse calmed, and Link could finally relax his grip. It seemed resigned to having a rider on its back, but not particularly happy about it. He still kept soothing it, whispering promsises that it couldn't possibly understand that he would care for it, treat it well. 

Perhaps it could, for it barely strayed as he slowly and gentle manoeuvred it around and back towards the stable. The stable master was leaning out of his cubby, and gave a long whistle and Link and the horse approached. 

"Well, colour me surprised. You did well for a novice! I take it you'd like to register your horse?"

Link nodded, absentmindedly stroking the neck of his new horse. It was so warm. 

"We charge a small registration fee of twenty rupees to register a horse," the stable master said. "This will cover taking care of your horse, feeding 'em, and a staddle to ride with. That sound alright?"

Link paused, double checking his coin purse, before nodding. He had found some small measure of rupees underneath the occasional rock or stone along the way. Link had made a game of guessing whether or not it would be a rupee, a bug or lizard, or nothing at all. 

"That's wonderful," the master replied. Let me grab the registration book. Say, what is the name of your horse?"

That gave Link a moment of pause. A name, a name. He hadn't thought of that. In his head it was simply 'horse', but some instinct had him thinking that wouldn't be a very acceptable name for his new companion. 

His horse snickered, and Link went back to patting it. 

From nowhere a name popped into his mind, bringing the pleasant association of old wisdom and warmth. He raised his left arm to spell out the letters. 

"Hm. That would be Gertrude, is it?"

Link nodded. 

"Splendid! Let me get you two kitted out." 

Link smiled, dismounting from his horse - from Gertrude - and reaching over to give her neck a quick hug. 

'Hello,' he thought, full of a sudden fondness. 'It's nice to meet you.' 

Gertrude swished her tail. 

Now, in the brand new world, full of empty fields and danger, Link had a friend. 


	3. soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's cold and wet and link should probably just take a break before the gamer rage sets in

Link looked at the frog clasped firmly in his hands. It's large, beady eyes looked back. A stalemate.

The rain was pouring down in the basin of the Lanayru region, darkening the sky and turning the cliffs into a slick, slippery hell. 

Suddenly even the shortest of walls were too high to overcome, seemingly an insurmountable challenge in the rain. Link would try climbing, but all too soon his hands, numb with the cold and soaking wet, would fail to grasp the next hand-hold and he'd drop a metre, scrambling to stop his descent. It was exhausting, each failure tiring him further, and Link soon felt himself overwhelmed with frustration. Even the most basic, most simplest of tasks were now a hurdle in his way. 

Which is why he had to kill this frog. 

Soon after Link had found people, the requests started coming and didn't stop coming. He wasn't sure if it was the habit of the people to ask things of every passing traveller in the hopes that one of them might help, or of he in particular seemed the most competent man for the job. Many people evidently couldn't complete the task they wanted finishing themselves - that one man who wished to read from the royal library would never get past the guardians in his lifetime.

Maybe it was silly of him, a waste of time, a diversion from his quest.

But Link felt a small spark of satisfaction for every task he managed to complete. Some corner of his heart was warmed by the idea that these people recognised him as competent. Someone who wouldn't fail.

Maybe one day he could feel like a real hero. 

Ergo the frog. 

There were ten monuments scattered around the region, displaying the history of the Zora. He had been asked - more or less - to find and document them all. Yet, a week after calming Vah Ruta, the region still had frequent periods of rain, though not nearly as strong as before. 

(When he had first exited the beast after exorcising the malice within, Link had been high, high above the basin around him. The clouds had parted for sunlight which lit the luminous stone of the region - bright and dazzling. It was so large, so wild and beautiful. For the first time he truly had a sense that this, this is what he was meant to save.)

Now Link was ready to sell his soul to the Calamity if the rain would let up for even _one_ minute. Just one! Dear Blessed Hylia above, let him climb a single cliff without falling. 

Luckily for him and unluckily for the frog, it could be cooked into an exilr that would enhance and expand his stamina. 

The Frog croacked, it's body pushing gently against Link's grip. It was cold, and a little slimy, neither things that inspired much sympathy. It hadn't stopped staring at him. 

"I'm going to cook you," Link said, plainly. "I am." 

It didn't even blink.

It's heart was easy to feel under his palm, a strange and foreign beat - too fast and too weak compared to what he was used to. 

And yet, it was undoubtedly, unbearably, _alive_.

Link shook his head in disgust. Maybe that moment after Vah Ruta had affected him more than he'd thought. Maybe it was because a lot had been on his mind lately - the endless company of the Zora threw his early days into sharp contrast. Those days of endless quiet and feeling small and lonely: the only living person in the whole world.

Link glanced at the cliffs: dark, cold, and endlessly wet with the rain. He was soaked to his feet and exhausted, the frustration of having failed so many times built up like an itch behind his eye. His mouth twisted at the thought of trying again. 

Ugh, fine. "Fine!" He said, pointing at the frog with his other hand. "It's your lucky day, Frog. But don't think I'll go easy on you next time!" 

He drew his hand back and chucked the frog clean into the water he'd grabbed it from. It landed harmlessly with a little plop, and immediately started swimming away. 

Link, sopping wet and all but done for the day, grabbed his slate with angry, jerky movements. He picked a shrine next to a stable as far away from these stupid cliffs as possible, and clicked again to warp over. 

Perhaps he'd feel better after some warm, hearty soup. 


	4. vroom vroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected trial leads to an interesting contraption.

It had been so long since Link had heard Zelda's voice. Every month she gave a faint warning for the blood moon, but it was a fading, scripted speech. Her mind evidently elsewhere as she focused on her waning power and keeping a great evil at bay.

When he had freed the last of the corrupted divine beasts, he couldn't say he was surprised to hear from her once more, but what she did say was certainly unexpected. He expected perhaps a congratulations, or even admonishment to hurry up and go save her.

Instead he was told to return to where it had all started: the shrine of resurrection. 

Link was certain that he wouldn't have missed such a strange weapon when he first awoke. The One-Hit Obliterator was a curious name for such a weapon - a little on the nose, really. Within it, another trial awaited.

Memories of his time on Eventide Island flashed through his mind. It was not his place to question the goddesses... yet their fancies were strange and whimsical. For what reason they wished to see him struggle through trial after trial at a disadvantage he didn't know. Yet if there was another trial to be had, there was no time to waste. 

He grabbed the weapon.

It sapped his strength instantly. Even food could not rejuvenate him, and this unnatural, pervasive weakness followed him throughout the whole trial. 

In the very earliest days if his awakening, Link often found himself outmatched. He had no armour, little food, and only a handful of weak, brittle weapons. He had been confused, more concered with figuring out the basics of how to walk around that besting every moblin in his path.

And so he developed a keen sense of stealth. It was this ability to sneak around which likely saved his life on this latest trial. While a single blow would fell his enemies, a single blow would also fell him. 

He persevered. There was no other option: whatever trials lay in his way had to be overcome if he was to defeat the Calamity and finally fulfil his duty. 

His triumph was rewarded with further trials: for each enemy camp that he cleared, a shrine took its place, ready to challenge him. Perhaps these would be the last of these trials, perhaps they would not. Link, grim with determination, would undertake them regardless. 

And then- and then. A final trial. Again, hopefully for the final time, Link returned to the shrine of resurrection. Indeed there was a place to rest the curious weapon of this trial. He wondered how he had never noticed it before, the area opening up into a wide entrace for the next and final stage. 

Some trials tested Link's strength. Some his wisdom, or his endurance. Some merely tested his patience. This whole trial seemed to manage to do all of them. Within the final stage was a labyrinth. The twisted sheikah made corridors were something he truly had never wished to see again after his experiences in the other ones. Tall walls that went on forever, crowded and claustrophobic. The ever-present feeling of danger - that an enemy could be around any corner, no advance warning. Truly it was a pain to make his way to the exit, but as the trial demanded, so he complied.

Then, finally, he had beaten it. Link had almost expected another shrine to greet him, another, final final test. Instead the Monk lay motionless, like all other Monks he had seen in the many shrines he conquered. Relaxing, and with very little thought on the matter, he approached.

The Monk moved.

Link could not truly describe the shot of fear he felt at seeing the Monk move. It went against all prior expectations, and all the experiences he had so far on his journey. It seemed unnatural, for one dead for so long to even twitch a finger. The fine hairs on his nape rose, and Link tightened his grip on his sword.

Unnatural or otherwise, this was his final enemy.

It was a fierce battle. Link was unused to intelligent enemies, the closest he had gotten to being the mere shards of Ganon's power. But the Malice beasts paled in comparison to an enemy that could think and strategise: Link could no longer fall into a predictable pattern, and he was wont to do. 

Furthermore, the enemy was strong. Whatever the Monks used to eat must have worked miracles, each blow that Link caught with his body instead of his sword left him breathless and wheezing. There were some attacks he had dodged by the skin of his teeth that surely would have broken bone. 

Link could not remember his middle name, or indeed if he had one. Maybe he would give himself one. His new middle name could be called pig-headed stubbornness, for somehow his unwillingness to give up had paid off once again.

Yes he was battered and bruised. Yes the remnants of the fight could be seen in the handles of his shattered weapons, dotted around the battlefield. But he had won, Link had fought and come out on top once more, and that was all that mattered.

The trial truly, finally, was over. 

What, Link wondered, would he prize be? The divine beasts had each been puzzling challenges - they had stretched his abilities almost further than he thought they could stretch. Yet completing each beast has granted him a new spiritual power each time, all of them invaluable and immeasurably useful. 

Link eyed the area warily. If the ghost of King Rhoam appeared to give some otherworldly blessing, bless Hylia but Link would have to commit treason. Ganon be damned. 

Thankfully no ghosts appeared. Instead, from the shining depths of the shrine appeared the most wondrous, amazing prize of-

a metal horse? 

Link thought over his quest. All those monsters he had slain, heart pounding over the very real possibility that a single strike in return, any retaliation or blow from afar, would render his life forfeit. Then the labyrinth, its twisting paths seemingly going on forever. Finally with that battle, fierce and difficult. 

All for a fake horse?

Link was unsure was emotion he was feeling, but the hysterical laughter bubbling up behind his sternum sure said... something. 

Fine.

Fine!

Curse the gods for their capricious whimsy. If it was a metal horse that made the difference between victory and defeat then who was Link to say otherwise? 

He mounted the horse, wary of it even as it remained unmoving. It was firmer and colder than a real horse. 

He had chosen a wide, mostly empty patch of land near the boarder of the great plateau to practice. Maybe a metal horse was a ridiculous reward but there was no need to look like a fool in front of everyone just to practice riding it. 

If only he could figure out how.

He hit its side with his leg to no response. He leaned with his body weight, spoke to it, even tried a mightly "Hyah!" to no avail. Eventually in curiosity he twisted one of the hand holds.

The horse went flying forward, Link holding on for dear life. The wind rushed past him faster than ever before. His eyes watered from the speed. Underneath him the metal horse was letting out a large continuous roar. 

Link, unable to steer and close to the edge of the plateau, should have anticipated what happened next. Instead he was left shocked as the horse stumbled on a stray log, disappearing into blue mist. Link went flying, momentum carrying him forward and over the edge. 

He was falling, tumbling through the air at a speed unseen to him ever before. The wind whistled sharply fast his eads as if he were still on the horse, but the feeling of plummeting through the sky could not be mistaken. 

Desperately, Link fumbled for his paraglider. It was very rarely that he was so caught off guard, but the brand new experience and the speed at which the events took place left him struggling to catch up as he fell towards and ever looming ground.

At what seemed like the last second, Link's fumbling bore fruit and the paraglider unfurled to drastically slow his approach. His arms jolted upwards while his body continued downwards, the strain on his shoulders causing him to yell. That would be felt tomorrow. 

Eventually he hit the ground, stumbling and falling flat. With a great heave he flipped himself onto his back, breath heavy and heart pouding. His veins felt like they were on fire, the rush of adrenaline keeping his body wired as he slowly came down from a near miss of a very messy death. 

Link took a deep, measured inhale, trying to keep his breathing in order. It only somewhat worked. 

He laughed, a full-bellied sound, the relief of survival hitting him all at once. Whatever the Monks had intended, the strange metal horse probably wasn't meant to almost kill their hero.

Link couldn't wait to try it again. 


	5. dragon

The nighttime chill nipped at the tips of Link's ears. He was sitting on top of the southernmost gate of a large, brick bridge that spanned a great lake near the plateau. 

He did not truly think, when he was first granted the paraglider, how large the world would be. The plataeu to which he had awoken was a contained thing: with firm, definite boundaries that dropped steeply to the land below. Without a way to traverse them, the edges of the great plateau had effectively been the edges of his whole world. 

When he had been suddenly turned free, Link spent no time running towards the edge of one of the steep drops and leaping clean off. The land disappeared from under his feet, the wind buffeted him and his arms strained.

Endless land had stretched out below him, disappearing up over the horizon. He had never felt more free. 

He could not regret, then, his lack of planning. Sure he hadn't gathered any extra food, or hunkered down for the night someplace safe to start on a fresh morning. But the world had been calling him, and who was Link to refuse that call? 

Thus he had eventually ended up upon this bridge. It was huge - and unlike many of the other structures he had seen, wasn't half-crumbled or derelict. Sure it wasn't pristine, but it was working. Link could almost get an idea of how high his people had gone, in the past. Oh, what sort of things they must have built!

He had dispatched the lizalfos on the bridge with relative ease, but had broken his last sword doing so. All he had left were sad little bokoblin clubs. In the middle of the bridge, he had found a curious wooden creature - he had almost attacked it before it laughed, high-pitched and otherworldly, before handing him a small golden seed and disappearing in a plume of smoke. Link kept the seed in his hand as he sat, turning it carefully in his fingers. It was smooth. 

Night had quickly started to fall, and Link, unwilling to go back, and with no guarantee of safe shelter going forward, decided to go up. It took all of his stamina and a couple of breaks, but he made it onto the flat roof of the gate of the bridge. It was a little cold, but nothing a good fire wouldn't soon fix. 

Usually he would be asleep at this time. It was best to rise and fall with the sun. It had been a long and exciting day, however. Link could surely afford a few hours to simply digest this thoughts, and sort through his feelings. These hours were for him alone: in the morning he would once again become the Hero with a quest, beholden to duty and chained by the events of a time long past. 

Now he was simply himself, as he always felt he was. No name, no memories, no thoughts needed beyond the next immediate action. It was soothing. If only he could be this person forever. 

The night was getting colder, and the moon had fully risen. It's pale glow lit the water below with some otherworldly quality. It was time to set up his campfire for the night.

Link stood up, wincing at the popping of his joints, slate in hand to prepare for sleep. It was no good to stit stiffly so long. He was just stretching out his limbs when a glow on the water caught his attention. Not the moonlight, no, but a curious green glow some distance away by a small cluster of tiny islands on the lake. Link strained his eyes trying to make it out, but soon had no need. 

It emerged out from the water with force - water falling from it's heavenly form. First a horn, bright and crackling with electric power even from afar. Then a head, and a body that seemed to never end. Link stumbled back, his slate slipping forgotten from his fingers. Only luck kept it on the top of the bridge with him. 

What a magnificent beast! Both wonderful and terrifying, it took to the skies like it owned them. Indeed who could argue such a creature did not have dominion over nature itself? Link didn't know, but such was his awe he found himself rooted to the spot, eyes wide in wonder. 

Was this what the world was like? Larger than life itself. Link was a speck in comparison, but he could only find it in himself a small but powerful love starting to grow for the world around him. 

And then the creature looped around the lake and was coming straight towards him, and Link found himself not thinking much at all. It passed right by, with a fierce updraft accompanying it. It would be enough even for Link to fly, but perhaps he should not. For also around the creature were bright balls of crackling green energy. They formed from its body, floating lazily through the air, before dissipating when they were far away enough. 

Link's heart felt like it was in his throat. It could only have been a few minutes, and yet it had felt like an eternity. As soon as it started it felt like it was over, the bright, almost blinding lights fading back into the quiet blackness of a regular night. Even as the creature moved on and away out of sight, too large to notice the small Hylian it had flown right over, Link was left reeling. The light still danced behind his eyes, his heart still thumping loudly. Even as the peaceful quiet returned, it felt changed somehow with the knowledge of something so grand. 

Link sat back down without much care, sleep all but forgotten with this wild, wonderful new discovery. 


	6. memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm adding an end note as a trigger/content warning. if you don't want one then do ignore it

It's a long, long time before Link even thinks about looking for his memories. Even if you asked him, he couldn't think of how to explain why he put it off. Some weird combination of genuinely forgetting to do it, having no knowledge of the land when he first was tasked with it and no clue where to start, and maybe a little bit of fear.

Often it was hard to fully grasp an idea if one had no experience of it, even if someone else - Impa in this case - was trying to explain it. Memories were like that, the concept had been foreign: almost meaningless even. What did memory mean to a newly awoken amnesiac with the whole world to explore? The past itself had already been a vague idea, the long passage of time something that he grasped on paper but didn't truly understand.

His journey had changed that. Going out into the world, meeting people that needed saving, fighting the guardians - these all drove home how important it was that the Calamity was stopped. Link knew people: Riju, Sidon, Teba, Yunobo, all who cared so much about their homes that they were willing to risk it all just for the chance to save it. 

Link also knew others. Beedle, Koko, Bolson, who had no clue about the imminent danger. Unlike his other companions, these people were largely defenceless. The idea of these people walking around, living their daily tasks only to have it all snatched away by the malice barely contained in the castle made Link sick to his stomach. Little Koko couldn't possibly protect herself. Would she even understand what was going on, or would she just get caught up in all the chaos? Karakiko Village might be hidden but nothing would remain safe from thr Calamity for long if it wasn't stopped for good. 

Somewhere along the line he started to grasp what exactly it meant that a hundred years had passed. Impa had always been old, as he now knew her. He had always looked young. The world was always in ruin. But the people talked, of time long past, of the age immediately following the calamity. The landscape had scars but sometimes Link could almost see it whole: like some weird, double image. Moreso than anything else, Link had remembered the champions.

It was only a couple of memories at best. They came to him unbidden on his journey, precisely at the right times to invest him in saving another divine beast. The obvious explanation for these memories was that he had visited the places of theit making. Despite this, Link had almost thought they were too convenient. They came so neatly, so suddenly, almost like divine intervention. No other memories arrived like that - Link had no sudden recollection of his mundane, everyday life. Only things that somehow related to his quest. 

It was a silly thing to think, perhaps. Surely Hylia had better things to do than grant him memories. 

Thoughts for another day. 

His memories continued to feel separate from him. As if they belonged to some unknown other. His quest hadn't changed their alien nature, but it had granted him the curious, almost masochistic need to know about what had changed. What had been lost. 

It probably helped that Impa had one finaly gift for him upon recovering his memories. It definitely helped that he had run out of things that needed to be done before he could face the calamity. Was it some desperate need to tie up all his loose ends before going into battle? Or was it the very simple, selfish desire to put off his fate?

More thoughts for another day.

Either way he decided it was time to actively search for a memory. 

He grabbed his slate and opened up the camera album. Zelda's pictures were there, stored away from his own. He could see them, but curiously could not alter or delete them: they were out of his reach. Just like Zelda herself was put of reach for him. 

He was thinking too much. 

He looked over the pictures, having some vague clue where they might be. In some sense having explored all of Hyrule was working against him: he had seen the sights of the land so often they sort of blurred together. The likelihood of him being in or near one of the locations in the pictures were high, but Link wouldn't be able to remember where in the world it had been.

One of them stood out at least. A curious set of ruins that were crumbling even a hundred years ago. Even more curiously was that Link could immediately pinpoint them: why they were right next to a shrine. It was even in the picture itself. And it would take Link longer than a hundred years to forget a test of major strength. 

Link opened up his map, clicking on Tena Ko’sah Shrine. It was lost on him how he'd gone to the area before without any clue that it held a key to his past. Surely he would have felt it? Then again, he had been unwilling to reconnect with those memories until only recently. Maybe being ready for them would change something. 

He could only hope. 

Link dematerialised and then rematerialised in moments, the pleasant warmth of his Hateno house quickly replaced with a chilly wind. It was close to the Tabantha region, and while he might not need a whole snowquill set, it was noticeably cold. He switched into his warm doublet anyway. 

The shrine looked the same as when he last saw it. The crumbling ruins scattered around it probably older than most of the other buildings in Hyrule. It's a wonder he hadn't triggered his memory the first visit, he thought, looking down at the picture on the slate. It was so similar to real scene before him, except the perspective was all off. Maybe if he moved like such? A couple of paces to the right, angled to see the shrine just like- ah, just like the picture. 

Link looked at the picture, glanced up again at the identical scene, and was caught. 

Going into a memory was a bit like falling. He could feel his body stay stationary before its senses were lost to him altogether, but Link had no other description for the feeling. It was a bit like going under water, the simultaneous sensation of floating and being dragged under. The light penetrating the surface of the water, a distorted picture of the world above it that soon would come into focus if he could just get up and out for some air. 

But it wasn't the same world he saw when he came back to himself. Even though little had changed, this memory self had a different weight to him. This Link knew who he was and what he was doing. At least that's the way it seemed.

Zelda was trying to get into the Shrine. It was a good thing she hadn't, all things considered, given the guardian trial that awaited below. Her musings were interrupted by the sound of a horse, and Link, looking oh so similar and so very different, rode up. Words were exchanged, sharp and angry. Zelda did not want him there. The feeling was so pervasive, it stained the whole memory. Link could almost feel the lingering sense of bitterness on his tongue. Was this their relationship? 

And then he was back. 

Whatever he was expecting, it hadn't been that. The animosity of Zelda was a surprise, that was true. Although Link guessed he really didn't have much to go on. What was Zelda to him, besides an occasional voice and a goal to reach? Up until then he hadn't even remembered what she looked like. 

It was disturbing to think that Link had been treating her more of a vague concept than a person. 

The memory itself... felt different. Link wouldn't have even been able to explain how he knew what Zelda was doing before he rode up to her. His eyesight was good but not that good. 

The perspective was a little off. Link did have the sense that the scene was familiar to him, and yet the whole memory felt disjointed. Like viewing it from the outside in. All his other memories, that had come unbidden, felt as if he had been seeing them himself. This latest one almost felt like it came from an outside perspective.

But that was ridiculous. These were his memories. Right? It was necessary to recover these memories anyway. Impa had one final gift to give him only after they were retrieved. If Link hoped to walk into Hyrule castle and come out victorious he needed every advantage he could get. 

Link clipped the slate to his side, and turned away from the whole scene. It was only the first memory, but he didn't think he could go retrieve another quite yet. They didn't feel like him, but then again. Who was he? 

He shoved those thoughts far far to the back of his mind, and started marching away. Stubbornly he decided to do literally anything else in the world than linger on these useless, inane thoughts. There was a great fairy in the area, he remembered, mood lightening. Perhaps he would go visit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter hints at themes of unreality and implies fake memories. it's up for interpretation what the real answer if but if that's distressing then please be warned
> 
> late release bc i've been super into HW DE rn! i wanna thank ppl for this chapter's and last chapter's prompts! i'm always willing to listen to more - although no guarantees it will be written

**Author's Note:**

> drop me a shout if there's a scenario you'll like to see @toshiirou.tumblr
> 
> comments are appreciated


End file.
